Chapter Sixteen: The First Kill Revisited

Half a minute before Ember killed the Shadow Devourer Queen, another player landed near the hospital. His drop point was unfortunate—right at the edge of the isolated island. After searching several abandoned wooden huts with no success, he fixed his sights on the most conspicuous building nearby: the deserted hospital.

The live stream instantly switched to a split-screen, revealing the player’s identity: “Huo Ze,” an arcane practitioner affiliated with the university. He was even better known as a core member of the top guild “Nine Trigrams” in the Singularity game *Titan*. Ember had previously crossed paths with another core member of this guild, Moonlit Water, whom he had decisively defeated in a two-against-one skirmish.

“Is that really Huo Ze? This just got interesting!”

“Huo Ze is arrogant and talented, and with Nine Trigrams backing him, I’m sure he’s going to target Ember!”

“Look, he’s entered the hospital! The number one on the rankings is about to take a serious hit!”

“You say number one, but are you really afraid of Huo Ze?”

“Foolish. Haven’t you seen the university’s leaderboard? Huo Ze has five seals. Don’t think number one means unbeatable.”

The players in the discussion group, many of whom were beta testers, knew Huo Ze’s temperament well. They weren’t surprised at his intrusion into the hospital and could even predict the likely outcome. Meanwhile, most viewers who had just watched Ember’s fierce battle against the Shadow Devourer were unaware of Huo Ze’s reputation but couldn’t help worrying about Ember.

What if the victory he was about to claim was snatched away?

What if the situation worsened and Huo Ze chose to ambush from behind? Could Ember, fresh from an exhausting fight, avoid such a fate?

The audience had no concrete information, but the two commentators did—though some things couldn’t be said openly. Setting aside the Nine Trigrams’ influential role in *Titan*, the live broadcast itself restricted the commentators from speaking freely. They couldn’t outright declare that Huo Ze was unscrupulous, that a sneak attack was inevitable, or that he shamelessly prided himself on killing and looting as if it were routine, often escaping punishment from the guild’s leaders.

Such behavior was second nature to Huo Ze. Despite repeated penalties from the high council, he remained unrepentant, and since he had contributed significantly to the guild’s growth, they eventually stopped interfering.

Because of player confidentiality agreements, the hosts were unaware of the specific attributes of the two players. Consequently, they instinctively predicted Ember’s demise. There was no compelling evidence to suggest that Ember, who held six seals, was invincible. If Huo Ze struck first, it would be a straightforward matter for a ranged mage to finish off a low-health warrior.

As Huo Ze stepped over the corpse of the Shadow Devourer and quietly made his way to the corridor’s end, he began to silently charge his fireball against the unsuspecting Ember. The live chat erupted with criticism.

“Setting up a sneak attack? How shameless!”

If Huo Ze saw these comments, he would surely laugh and retort, “Survival of the fittest.”

The dead have no say in fairness!

Having just mastered the “Explosive Fireball” through solo challenges, Huo Ze was still somewhat unfamiliar with the skill’s casting nuances. Without attempting to speed up the casting time, he completed the standard one-and-a-half-second channel. A blazing fireball formed in his hand and exploded behind Ember, dealing twenty-three points of damage.

Seeing Ember attempt to dodge but fail, Huo Ze’s confidence soared. A close-combat warrior reduced to near death at maximum distance? He was as good as dead! No matter how formidable your defense, I’ve slain monsters tougher than you. Do you think your health is thicker than theirs?

With a trace of disdain, Huo Ze began charging his second arcane skill while slowly retreating to avoid interrupting the cast. According to his calculations, before Ember could close the distance, he would endure one more heavy arcane attack plus two ordinary light orb strikes, totaling over sixty points of damage. This was based on his estimate of Ember’s health, deduced from the sun emblem Ember wore on his chest. Although Huo Ze hadn’t obtained one himself, he knew it granted thirty extra health points.

This data came from a guildmate who had cleared the Life Sanctuary on Hard difficulty, information Huo Ze had gathered from other sources.

A total of sixty extra health points and twenty-two defense made Huo Ze, confident in his maxed-out damage, feel challenged. He needed to focus completely and land his full combo to secure victory. More importantly, he had to interrupt Ember’s recovery attempt—a task not difficult for someone who had mastered instant light orb attacks.

He had used this tactic against many opponents, preventing them from healing and finishing them off. The damage from ordinary light orbs was also considerable. In Huo Ze’s calculations, he was confident that two more light orbs would be enough to finish Ember, especially once his second arcane skill was fully charged.

Ember, huh?

You’re already a dead man!

Even if you’re number one on the foundation rankings, I’ll shred you to nothing!

Just as Huo Ze prepared to unleash his arcane skill again, Ember suddenly turned to face him. Huo Ze believed that, out of respect for Ember’s top ranking, he had given him maximum attention, maintaining the perfect distance to cast his magic safely. The operating room was mostly occupied by the Shadow Devourer Queen’s corpse, leaving no cover for Ember, who had become a moving target.

A victor!

I’ll allow you a few struggles before your death.

Huo Ze thought confidently. Then he saw Ember’s expressionless face, his shoulders lowering...

Ha!

Is he trying to dodge?

Does he even see the surroundings? Can you really escape here?

Resisting is even more laughable!

Do you think my “Flame Impact” is for anyone else?

Huo Ze enjoyed PvP and excelled at using distance to toy with melee fighters. Players who had fallen to him before rarely had a chance to counterattack. One reason was that, like Moonlit Water, Huo Ze pursued peak damage, often deciding fights with a single burst. Another was his early mastery of “Flame Impact,” a control skill that knocked back enemies whose strength level was lower than his perception level plus one, maintaining a safe zone around him.

At level eight, Huo Ze had randomly unlocked the Perception talent and consumed a basic evolution potion, giving him more attribute points than average players. He allocated three points to strength for armor, one to agility to cast skills, and the rest—seven points—to perception, making him a specialist in perception with balanced offense and defense.

Huo Ze was sure Ember’s strength level wouldn’t reach eight because he knew Ember’s novice talent was Willpower, which usually didn’t add much strength—just like now.

Also, Ember’s level couldn’t be ten, meaning he had only nine attribute points. The sun emblem required two perception points, and main combat skills at least another two, leaving five points for other attributes. No matter how you counted, it wasn’t enough. Even with two evolution potions and a charging skill, Ember could at best match “Flame Impact” fifty-fifty, still giving Huo Ze plenty of safe distance.

Know yourself, know your enemy, and you’ll never lose a battle!

Huo Ze’s arrogance was justified, but he was no fool to underestimate the top-ranked player.

As Miao Miao had said, the bird that sticks out gets shot. Ember had no idea how many people had analyzed his stats and skill combinations from subtle clues, let alone the elite guild Nine Trigrams.

And the truth was exactly that: Ember, with eleven available attribute points, couldn’t raise his strength to eight. Even if his charge skill benefited from strength, it would only neutralize “Flame Impact’s” knockback. On the surface, if Ember had no other tricks, he would die at Huo Ze’s hands.

Unfortunately, data analysts didn’t know that the sun emblem obtained on Hard mode differed greatly from the nightmare-level version. Nor did Huo Ze realize that while he took Ember seriously, Ember equally respected Huo Ze’s combat power. The explosive fireball with a damage cap of forty-five made Ember regard Huo Ze as a rival comparable to Moonlit Water.

So, at the moment his shoulders sank to launch his charge, Ember instantly activated the sun emblem’s “Solar Radiance” invincibility effect, surrounding himself with faint flames.

[Notification: You have triggered the sun emblem’s effect “Solar Radiance.” For the next three seconds, you gain super armor, cannot be interrupted, and your attack and defense increase by 50%.]

[Notification: You have activated the skill “Charge,” dashing forward twelve meters at double maximum speed, with an impact effect equal to your strength level plus one.]

Seeing Ember indeed possessed a charge skill as expected, Huo Ze calmly unleashed his fully charged Flame Impact. As Ember’s figure was obscured by firelight, Huo Ze continued retreating while preparing ordinary light orbs, aiming to finish Ember in one swift strike.

Time to end this!

Number one on the rankings!

But then, unexpectedly, Ember, engulfed in flames, ignored the knockback and charged straight through the fiery domain, barreling directly at Huo Ze.

The terrifying momentum, like a raging bull, made Huo Ze shudder. His prepared light orb shattered instantly, and the next moment, he was brutally slammed away by Ember.

The violent impact drained Huo Ze’s complexion. It felt like he’d been hit by a truck, his body flying uncontrollably. Staring at his dwindling health, he was stunned.

Why wasn’t he knocked back?

Why was Ember’s damage so high?

Was there some crucial information he didn’t know?

Huo Ze couldn’t make sense of it, nor did he have time to. Upon crashing to the ground, he suffered secondary damage from the collision—an instant kill. This sudden turn left the once-righteous audience speechless.

A counter-kill, and it was this simple?

[Global Announcement: Foundation trainee “D1106” has slain university trainee “U127,” achieving first blood!]